Tenslayn Valerin's Adventures in Skyrim
by Scaron
Summary: Tenslayn Valerin is a Dunmer mage from the mages guild in Cyrodiil specializing in illusion magic. He is sent to Skyrim to approve the new arch mage at the college of Winterhold, but first he must pass through Riften. When Tenslayn meets a strange Nord woman he must uncover her dark secrets. I've made up some new spells that aren't in the actual game so don't get angry about that.
1. Chapter 1

Tenslayn Valerin is a Dunmer mage from the mages guild in Cyrodiil specializing in illusion magic. He is sent to Skyrim to approve the new arch mage at the college of Winterhold, but first he must pass through Riften. When Tenslayn meets a strange Nord woman he must uncover her dark secrets. I've made up some new spells that aren't in the actual game so don't get angry about that. And I've changed the layout of some places so it fits the story better.

And also, I don't own any of skyrim or the elder scrolls games etc. that's Bethesda.

Tenslayn Valerin awoke from his restless sleep rubbing the grainy dust from his dark crimson eyes, he sat up and leant against the wall of the cart that was carrying him and a few other people into the province of Skyrim. Tenslayn observed the other passengers in the cart. A fat merchant with a bulbous nose and thinning grey hair stared dreamily with half lidded eyes and a fidgety Khajiit barely containing his excitement about arriving at Riften, (the first stop in Skyrim in the journey to Winterhold) he had been chattering, probably to himself more than anyone else, for hours at the beginning of the journey until the fat merchant had told him to shut up. There was also a third person crammed into the carriage: a Nord woman wearing a cowl to cover her dishevelled looking (but still pretty) face. This was a woman who was running from something. But there was something more than that; Tenslayn could feel a strange atmosphere around this woman, something that he couldn't quite place his finger on, and he wanted to find out what this was. He felt that he had to uncover this woman's secrets.

The cart slowed to a halt and the repetitive clopping of the horse's hoofs subsided. Before Tenslayn could even start to move to get out of the carriage the excited Khajiit burst out towards the gates of Riften shouting "I'm here! I'm here! Three days trapped inside a cart but I'm here!" and within a few seconds he was submerged in the bustling crowd.

Tenslayn stepped out next, the sun straining his eyes, he crossed the stable courtyard and waited by the crowd of people trying to get into the city, far away enough to not be noticed by the woman when she came out but close enough so he could still see the cart without too many people crossing between him and it. He had experience in doing things like this since he was also an investigator for the mages guild as well as doing things like overseeing magic colleges. Tenslayn decided that he would go and find an inn to stay in later, but for now he would wait for the strange woman to exit then take note of where she was staying.

Five minutes later the fat merchant exited the cart and waddled off towards the Riften gates to get in to the city. Five more minutes passed. Then ten more. And after twenty minutes of waiting Tenslayn had lost his patience. He had heard of paranoia but this was getting ridiculous. Was this woman ever going to leave? He spotted the cart driver - who was tying putting the horse into its stable - and paced over to him; he had some Nord mead in his hand and he smelt vaguely of horse manure. Regardless Tenslayn introduced himself, "hello Mr…"

"People call me Frikk" the man replied.

"Frikk, who is that woman still sitting in the cart?"

"No idea, I don't really ask too many questions. Just take them to where they need to be."

"Come on, you must know more than that." Tenslayn said holding out ten septims.

"Well now that you mention it when she asked to be taken to Skyrim she looked like she had been running, like someone had been chasing her. She also asked that if a merchant and a group of people came looking for her don't tell them that she was there. That's all I know."

"Thank you for the help Frikk, oh, and if you find out anything else, tell me about it." Tenslayn said and promptly walked away.

As Tenslayn passed the cart the woman slowly stepped out pulling her cowl lower over her face to hide her identity. "Are you okay?" He asked, and when he said this she looked at him like she had never seen him before (even though they had spent three days in the cart together. "Oh, um…" she said seeming to be somewhere else in her mind.

"So what brings you to Skyrim?" Tenslayn asked carrying on the conversation.

"Well sometimes you don't have anywhere else to go you know?"

"And Riften's the only place you can go?"

"Well actually I don't really know where to go in Riften."

"Hmm, how about the temple of Mara, they have rooms for people to stay in and it's probably the safest place in Riften apart from the Jarls palace. I can get you into the city then take you there."

"Yes… the temple of Mara…" she said, her mind still seeming to be somewhere else. It was making Tenslayn unsettled.

"Let's go then." Tenslayn said leading the way to the gates of Riften. It was surprisingly difficult to get only a few metres through the crowd – as people pushed past each other all trying to get where they needed to be – but eventually they got there. "Hey you," said a guard as they got to the gates. "Why do you want to get into Riften?"

"Just passing through."

"She with you?" Tenslayn looked over to the woman realising he didn't even know her name; he would have to ask her that when they got into the city. "Yeah, she's with me."

"Why is she looking down at the floor like that?" the guard asked inquisitively.

"Oh yeah, she's just really shy"

"Mmmm OK… you can go in. But I've got my eye on you."

"Thank you sir." Tenslayn said. He then hurried into the city with the woman.

"So, have you got a name?" he asked as they walked through the streets made of wooden planks that were suspended by wooden beams above the canal that ran through the city. "Hm?" the woman looked at him with that same look, like she had never seen him before in her life. "Oh, um, I guess you can call me Mirren"

They walked the rest of the way to the temple of Mara without saying anything. "Alright Mirren," Tenslayn said as they reached the steps of the temple. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye." Mirren replied.

"Oh and I'm Tenslayn by the way, Tenslayn Valerin." And then Mirren turned, walked up the steps and entered the temple. Tenslayn started to walk back into the city to find an inn to sleep in for the three days that he would be here before setting off to Winterhold. He would find out who this woman was.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note I have made up some new spells that aren't in the real game: Glimmer, this spell changes the look of something but it's not actually real, it is used for distractions or disguises.

Detect life, I don't think I need to tell you what that does.

Muffle sound and Brief Invisibility, used for sneaking.

Project sound, the spell creates a sound (that could be anything) in the location that the caster wants. Almost always used for distractions.

Minor Teleportation, able to teleport small distances.

Minor Telekinesis, able to move small objects with the mind.

Tenslayn also has a weapon. A chain with a razor sharp hook on the end that can slice through flesh and bone. Tenslayn controls this with his Minor Telekinesis power. But without further ado, let's continue the story.

Tenslayn entered the Bee and the Barb – he had heard good things about this place – the smell of mead filled his nostrils as the bard sang about a dragonborn. He walked past a very sour looking woman leaning against the wall and a priest from the temple of Mara. He sat down at the bar where an Argonian woman was cleaning out a tankard. "I'll have a mead." Tenslayn said.

"One mead coming up" and the Argonian woman brought him his drink. The drink wasn't nearly as good as the ones he had had in the Imperial city, this had probably been watered down, but it wasn't bad.

"I'd like to rent a room." He said after finishing his beverage.

"Sure, that'll be ten septims." And after Tenslayn gave her the money she showed him to his room on the third floor. "If you need anything just come and ask me, I'm Keerava" and the woman walked back downstairs.

The room was decently sized, it had a bed, a bedside table, a desk and a small window. He locked the door as he was slightly paranoid that a thief would try to rob him in his sleep, he was a rich man after all.

Tenslayn lay down on his bed still pondering who this Mirren person was and who she was running from, but eventually he fell asleep – he was quite tired after that journey.

Tenslayn woke up early the next morning, the sun just rising over the city of Riften. He got up and walked over to the door, the floorboards creaking slightly as he did so. He unlocked the door and walked downstairs. As he reached the second floor he noticed a door to the left of him was open ajar, but he thought nothing of it as someone probably just left it open accidentally.

Tenslayn continued to the bottom floor where there was no one except Keerava the bar tender. He ordered some breakfast and ate it in the corner. By the time he had finished, a few more people had come downstairs but as he was about to leave Keerava stopped him. "Yesterday a man came in asking for you, he said that he had some more information for you, but it wasn't that urgent."

"Did he say where I could find him?" Tenslayn asked.

"Nope sorry." She replied.

"Ok. Thanks anyway." And Tenslayn walked out of the door. He thought his best shot of finding Frikk would probably be at the stables so he headed there.

He got there about twenty minutes later. The sun had fully risen now and more people were waking up. Tenslayn saw a stable boy feeding the horses and walked over to him. "Do you know where I could find Frikk?" he asked.

"Frikk?" the stable boy replied, "I'm pretty sure Frikk went out drinking last night but I don't know where."

"Ok, do you know someone who would know where he went?"

"Maybe Frognar would know. He's over by the cart." The boy gestured to a rickety old carriage that looked like it hadn't been used in years.

"Ok thanks" and Tenslayn walked over to the man standing by the cart. "Do you know where Frikk could be?" he asked getting tired of this repetition.

"Oh Frikk he went out drinking last night at the sunken rat, it's a bar that's under the wooden streets, along the canal, if he's not there he's probably in his house. It's one of the poorer houses in the north of the city. You'll know which one it is because he carved his name into the door."

"Thank you" Tenslayn said hoping this was the last time today that he had to say that.

He went back into Riften deciding to go to Frikk's house first; he walked through the wooden streets, past beggars and merchants selling their wares and after about forty minutes he got to Frikk's house. It was old and worn down with one small window that was so dirty that you couldn't see through it. Tenslayn knocked on the door. There was no answer, so he knocked on it again, louder this time… still no answer. He tried the door handle but it was locked. That was weird, maybe Frikk had locked himself out. Tenslayn decided to cast a detect life spell just to see if anyone was inside. So he checked to see if anyone was around and when the coast was clear he cast the spell. Immediately he saw through the wall of the house, but all he saw was a rat chewing on a piece of food. Frustrated, he made his way down to the canal, and after a few minutes he reached the sunken rat. The door was locked when he got there so Tenslayn looked around for someone who might know when it opened.

"Excuse me." Tenslayn said to a drunken looking Breton that was swaying from side to side. "What time does the sunken rat open?"

"Pfft! Whenever the manager feels like it!" he replied. He then turned around and through up into the canal.

"Dammit!" He said leaning against a wall and looking down at the floor. Was he ever going to find Frikk? Tenslayn decided that he would head back to the Bee and the Barb; it was nearing midday now and this wasn't worth the time. But just before he left Tenslayn noticed something on the wooden boards of the walkway that separated him from the murky canal that ran through the city. At first he just thought it was dirt, but on closer inspection he could see that it was in fact, blood.

Tenslayn then noticed that there was another splotch of blood a few feet away, and another a few feet away from that. He followed the trail of blood, the blotches getting clearer each time, until the trail stopped. But at the last patch of blood he noticed something. One of the wooden panels had been broken through and Tenslayn thought he could see something in the almost black water.

He reluctantly stuck his hand in, reaching for the object. As he tugged at it he could tell that it was heavy and he couldn't pull it out with just on hand. So he looked around to see if anyone was watching, and when he saw that no one was he got down on his hands and knees. He heaved at the object, slowly pulling it out of the black sludge, and after about twenty minutes of hauling he felt something. Tenslayn could then pull it up through the hole in the boards with some difficulty.

He laid the object down on the walkway and then stood back to get a better look at what it was. But when he did he wished he didn't. This object was Frikk.


End file.
